Transport apparatuses for bedridden persons

ABSTRACT

Transport apparatus for the transport of a bedridden person from its bed to a bath or a shower closet and vice versa, said apparatus comprising a carriage provided with a vertically movable frame for the support of a litter and with a lifting device for adjusting said frame and the litter at the required height, said supporting frame being so constructed as to enable the nursing staff to hang it on and over the upper edge of the bathing tub or the splasher wall of the shower closet in a position in which the litter is inside the bathing tub or the shower closet.

United States Patent Geurtsen et a1.

TRANSPORT APPARATUSES FOR BEDRIDDEN PERSONS Inventors: Johannes Theodorus Geurtsen;

Theodorus Johannes Antonius Geurtsen, both of Twello, Netherlands Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 9, 1972 Netherlands 7210872 US. (31...... 5/81 R, 4/185, 4/173,

Int. Cl A47b 83/04 Field of Search 5/63, 81 R, 81 B; 214/38; 4/173, 185

, References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1937 Hicks 5/81 [451 Oct. 22,1974

2,681,455 6/1954 Schwartz 5/86 3,631,546 1/1972 Eliasson' 5/86 3,694,830 10/1972 Koller 5/63 Primary ExaminerCasmir A. Nunberg Attorney, Agent, or Firm-John P. Snyder Transport apparatus for the transport of a bedridden person from its bed to a bath or a shower closet and vice versa, said apparatus comprising a carriage prov'ided with a vertically movable frame for the support of a litter and with a lifting device for adjusting said frame and the litter at the required height, said supporting frame being so constructed as to enable the nursing staff to hang it on and over theupper edge of the bathing tub or the splasher wall of the shower closet in a position in which the litter is inside the bathing tub or the shower closet.

ABSTRACT 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures The invention relates to an apparatus for the transport of a bedridden person, notably for the transport of a person from the bed to a bath or a shower closet and back, said apparatus comprising a carriage, a lifting device mounted thereon and a litter supported by said carriage and meant for carrying a person in a lying position.

A travelling litter of this kind and for this purpose is disclosed in the Dutch Pat. application No. 65.05164 laid open to public inspection. In this apparatus a separate litter isused which is placed on and adapted to be rolled off from a horizontal frame or table top which can be vertically moved by a lifting device supported by a carriage and in said apparatus also a stationary bathing tub is provided, in which a corresponding horizontal frame adapted to be vertically adjusted by a lifting device is mounted. This apparatus has the disadvantage that it is difficult to slide the separate litter under the person to be bathed and to move the litter together with said person out of the bed. Another disadvantage is that the carriage and the lifting device must be well locked and exactly adjusted first in front of the bed and thereupon in front of the bathing tub. Moreover the tub must be provided with a built-in lifting device which increases the possibility of leakage and makes the bathing tub unsuitable for normal use.

The invention has the object to provide an apparatus of the kind referred to, in which the disadvantages of the known apparatus are avoided. This is achieved in that the litter rests on at least two horizontal bars extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the litter and said bars are attached with their one ends to the ends of the one legs of U-shaped bows which are adapted to be straddled on the longitudinal part of the brim of a bathing tub or the upper edge of a heightened splasher provided in the entrance opening of a relatively wide shower closet, whereas the other legs of said bows are pivoted to said lifting device and adapted to rotate about axes which are in line with said bars.

If a bedridden person has to be removed from the bed by means of this travelling litter, the litter can be positioned either in front of the bed, so that said person has to be moved from the bed onto the litter, or it can be slid, by means of the carriage, under the person lying in the bed. During the operation of laying the person onto the litter and during the transport of the person, the bows are swung down into their horizontal positions, so that they do not form obstacles. As soon as the person has been laid on the litter, the latter is lifted slightly and thereupon it is taken to a position at the right height above the bathing tub. Thereafter either the litter is lowered into the stationary, possibly heightened bathing tub or the tub is moved upwards around the litter. The use of this apparatus means that the number of required manipulations is reduced to a minimum, since the litter remains connected with the carriage. Thebows may be swung into their vertical position by hand, as soon as the litter has been positioned above the bathing tub. However, they can also be automatically pushed into the vertical position by the brim of the bathing tub, when theyare straddling same.

A simple construction of the carriage and the litter is obtained when each bow is pivoted to the upper end of a vertical rod which is mounted for vertical movement in a pillar attached to the carriage and the rods are interconnected by a horizontal longitudinal beam and when a jack is provided between said longitudinal beam and the carriage.

In order to prevent that, when a vertically movable bathing tub is used, the tub is lifted too far and, owing thereto, lifts the carriage and the litter or, if the carriage is held on the ground by supporting bars of the bath, damages the connection between the litter and the carriage, it is useful to connect the jack vertically slidably with the carriage. In that case the litter can be moved upwards by the bath, without being hampered by the carriage. To the same purpose the leg of each bow which is connected with the lifting device may consist of two relatively telescopically movable parts which are locked against relative movement by a shear pm.

For the interconnection of the lbows each bow may be provided with an oblique arm near its lower end and the arms of all bows extending in the same direction may be-interconnected by a horizontal coupling rod.

Advantageously, one or more springs maybe provided which try to keep the bows in their horizontal positions.

It must be prevented that the head of the person lying on the straight litter becomes submersed, when the filled bathing tub is moved upwards or the litter is lowered into the filled tub. Therefore it is recommended to construct the apparatus in such a manner, that the litter has a swing-up head end portion which is so long that, when the foot end of the litter corresponds with the foot end of the bathing tub, the edge of the head end portion of the litter projects beyond the head end brim portion of the bathing tub, so that when the litter and the bottom of the bathing tub are moving towards each other either due to the lowering of the litter into the bathing tub or due to the raising of the bathing tub around the litter, the head end portion of the litter is lifted by said head end brim portion of the bathing tub and the person lying on the litter is: automatically raised to a semi-sitting posture.

It is observed, that the transport apparatus according to the invention can cooperate with any normal bath and that the bathing tub needs no special equipment inside, so that it can also be normally used. The upwards movable bath and the vertically adjustable litter have the advantage that the person to be bathed can be positioned in the bath at a height which is easy for the nursing staff.

The invention will be further illucidated with the aid of the drawing. Therein is:

FIG. 1 an elevational view of :a vertically movable bathing tub and a litter according to the invention which is positioned above said tub and is mounted on a carriage,

FIG. 2 an elevational side view of said carriage and said litter and FIG. 3 an end view of said carriage and said litter.

In the drawing 1 is a bathing tub which rests with its upper brim or flange on two projecting beams 2, which are attached to a lifting device (not shown) mounted in a casing 3.

Associated with this vertically adjustable bathing tub is a transport apparatus which consists of a carriage 4, a lifting device and a litter 5 carried thereby.

The carriage is provided with two stationary vertical pillars 6, in which vertical rods 7 are mounted for sliding movement. The rods 7 are interconnected by a horizontal longitudinal beam 8. A jack 9 provided with an operating pedal 10 is' mounted between the carriage 4 and the longitudinal beam 8.

Pivoted to each rod 7 by a shaft 11 is a U-shaped bow 12. The two bows are each provided with an oblique arm 13. The two arms 13 are parallel and they are interconnected by a coupling rod 14. A manually operable lever 15 is attached to one of the shafts 11. By means thereof the bows 12 can be swung from the vertical position into the horizontal position 12', shown in FIG. 2 in dotted lines, and back to the vertical position. Near their bends the bows 12 are each provided with a rubber roller 16. The free leg of each how 12 carries near its end a frame 17, in which a rod 18, having a circular cross section, is supported. The litter 5 proper rests upon the rods 18 and engages said rods with slotted blocks 19. The rods 18 extend in line with the shafts 11, so that when the bows are swung upwards and downwards, the position of the litter 5 is not affected.

- FIGS. land 3 show how the carriage is first positioned with the litter above the bathing tub, when the latteris in its lowest position, and how thereafter the bathing tub is moved upwards till the brim or flange thereof is pushed against the rollers 16. The jack 9 is then made inoperative and the bathing tub can be adjusted at a useful height.

During the upward movement of the bathing tub I partly surrounding the litter 5 the head end portion 5a of the litter is swung upwards by the head end brim por tion of the bathing tub, so that the person to be bathed is automatically brought into a semi-sitting posture.

In order to prevent that during the upward movement of the bathing tub the latter is lifted too far, whereby the transport apparatus could be damaged, the lower end of the jack 9 is attached to a foot plate 20 which is slidably mounted in vertical U-shaped guides 21. For

the same purpose the leg of each bow 12 connected by shaft 11 with the longitudinal beam 8 consists of two relatively telescopically movable parts 12a and 12b which are held against relative movement by a shear pin 22.

If desired, a spring 23 shown in dotted lines is provided. This spring tries to keep the bows 12 in their horizontal positions. In that case the operating lever 15 may be omitted.

What we claim is:

1. An apparatus for the transport of a bedridden person, notably for the transport of a person from the bed to a bath or a shower closet and back to the bed, said apparatus comprising a carriage, a lifting device mounted on said carriage, a litter for carrying a person in a lying position, U-shaped bows adapted to be straddled on the longitudinal part of the brim of a bathing tub or the upper edge of a heightened splasher which is provided in the entrance opening of a relatively wide shower closet, the one legs of said bows being pivoted to said lifting device, horizontal bars extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of said litter to support same and being attached with their one ends to the ends of the other legs of said bows, said bars extending in line with the pivots of the connection between the bows and the lifting device.

2. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising in addition pillars mounted on the carriage, vertical rods mounted for vertical movement in said pillars, each one of said bows being pivoted to an individual one of said rods, a horizontal longitudinal beam interconnecting said rods and a jack which is provided between said longitudinal beam and the carriage, said pillars, said vertical rods, said horizontal beam and said jack constituting together the lifting device.

3. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which said jack is vertically slidably connected with the carriage.

4. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which of each bow the leg which is connected to the lifting device consists of two relatively telescopically movable parts and shear pins are provided, of which each one looks the two parts of such a bow leg against relative movement.

5. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which parallel oblique arms are provided at the lower ends of the bows and a horizontal coupling rod is pro vided which interconnects the arms of all bows.

6. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which at least one spring is provided which tries to keep the bows in their horizontal positions.

7. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the litter consists of at least two interlinked parts, one of said parts forming the head end portion of the litter and being so dimensioned, as to ensure, that, if the position of the foot end of the litter corresponds with the foot end of the bathing tub, the head end portion of the litter projects over the head end portion of the brim of the bathing tub, so that, when the litter and the bottom of the bathing tub are relatively moved towards each other, the head end portion is swung up by said brim portion of the bathing tub and thereby the person lying on the litter is automatically raised to a semi-sitting posture. 

1. An apparatus for the transport of a bedridden person, notably for the transport of a person from the bed to a bath or a shower closet and back to the bed, said apparatus comprising a carriage, a lifting device mounted on said carriage, a litter for carrying a person in a lying position, U-shaped bows adapted to be straddled on the longitudinal part of the brim of a bathing tub or the upper edge of a heightened splasher which is provided in the entrance opening of a relatively wide shower closet, the one legs of said bows being pivoted to said lifting device, horizontal bars extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of said litter to support same and being attached with their one ends to the ends of the other legs of said bows, said bars extending in line with the pivots of the connection between the bows and the lifting device.
 2. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising in addition pillars mounted on the carriage, vertical rods mounted for vertical movement in said pillars, each one of said bows being pivoted to an individual one of said rods, a horizontal longitudinal beam interconnecting said rods and a jack which is provided between said longitudinal beam and the carriage, said pillars, said vertical rods, said horizontal beam and said jack constituting together the lifting device.
 3. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which said jack is vertically slidably connected with the carriage.
 4. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which of each bow the leg which is connected to the lifting device consists of two relatively telescopically movable parts and sheAr pins are provided, of which each one locks the two parts of such a bow leg against relative movement.
 5. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which parallel oblique arms are provided at the lower ends of the bows and a horizontal coupling rod is provided which interconnects the arms of all bows.
 6. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which at least one spring is provided which tries to keep the bows in their horizontal positions.
 7. A transport apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the litter consists of at least two interlinked parts, one of said parts forming the head end portion of the litter and being so dimensioned, as to ensure, that, if the position of the foot end of the litter corresponds with the foot end of the bathing tub, the head end portion of the litter projects over the head end portion of the brim of the bathing tub, so that, when the litter and the bottom of the bathing tub are relatively moved towards each other, the head end portion is swung up by said brim portion of the bathing tub and thereby the person lying on the litter is automatically raised to a semi-sitting posture. 